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Stone Age Axe Holds Hidden Human Figure (Sweden)
The Local ^ | 6-109-2008

Posted on 06/10/2008 1:51:52 PM PDT by blam

Stone Age axe holds hidden human figure

Published: 10 Jun 08 17:37 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/12344/

An artifact from the Stone Age has been hiding in the plain sight of museum visitors and researches in western Sweden.

But no one noticed until archaeologist Bengt Nordqvist suddenly discovered the form of a human body on a stone axe.

“The axe has been in the museum’s collection for more than 100 years. Anyone could have found the image,” said Nordqvist, who had a hard time containing his excitement.

The stone axe was found in connection with the building of a road near Stala in the municipality of Orsut in Bohuslän region of western Sweden in 1875.

The ancient tool is a prized archaeological in and of itself, and has been seen by a considerable of visitors to the Gothenburg City Museum and the Stone Age Museum in Orust.

The axe is about 9,000 years old and in the shape of a cross.

But it is the inscribed image of a headless human figure which has turned the axe into a sensation.

Similar artifacts found earlier haven’t been so old.

“It is seldom we come so close to figurative shapes of Stone Age people. OF we have a single national treasure in the country from this period, it is this object,” said Nordqvist, who is an expert on the Stone Age from the Swedish National Heritage Board.

The figure’s missing head could be explained by wear, but the image could also be a symbolic picture of a shaman or medicine man in a trance during which his mind in another place, according to Nordqvist.

The axe and other artifacts are included in an exhibit “Orust’s hidden treasures (Orust glömda skatter) which opens at the Stone Age Museum in Orust next week.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: axe; figure; godsgravesglyphs; human; stoneage; sweden

1 posted on 06/10/2008 1:51:55 PM PDT by blam
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG Ping.


2 posted on 06/10/2008 1:52:52 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Maybe if it was on a piece of burnt toast I could see it better....but I’m not seeing it.


3 posted on 06/10/2008 1:57:14 PM PDT by sam_paine (X .................................)
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To: blam

Instructions for use?


4 posted on 06/10/2008 1:57:21 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: blam

Or could it be the ax was used for decapitation?


5 posted on 06/10/2008 1:57:38 PM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: Smokin' Joe
The figure’s missing head could be explained by wear, but the image could also be a symbolic picture...

Instructions for use?

(I hate it when I type bad HTML tags...)

6 posted on 06/10/2008 1:59:05 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly.)
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To: Beowulf9

Nah... It pre-dates Islam.


7 posted on 06/10/2008 2:01:01 PM PDT by Redcloak (The 2nd Amendment: It's not about sporting goods.)
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To: blam

Oh they got it all wrong. The carving identifies what the axe was used for. And gee.. the carving has no head.


8 posted on 06/10/2008 2:03:03 PM PDT by JoeSixPack1
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To: blam
...9,000 years old and in the shape of a cross.

...the inscribed image of a headless human figure ...

... but the image could also be a symbolic picture of a shaman or medicine man in a trance during which his mind in another place, according to Nordqvist.

Ah, let me speculate. Maybe the shaman saw the coming of Christianity followed by the arrival of Islam.

9 posted on 06/10/2008 2:48:28 PM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts
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To: blam
Stone ax image source revealed!


10 posted on 06/10/2008 3:31:42 PM PDT by AndrewB
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To: blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Blam. 9000 year old headsman's axe?

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
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· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


11 posted on 06/10/2008 10:49:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_________________________Profile updated Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: Smokin' Joe

hee hee hee... now THAT’s funny...


12 posted on 06/11/2008 5:03:14 AM PDT by Mr. K (Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help)
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To: blam

Looks like a headless chicken to me.

13 posted on 06/11/2008 9:35:26 AM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: blam
...but the image could also be a symbolic picture of a shaman or medicine man in a trance during which his mind in another place...

...or it could mean nothing.

14 posted on 06/11/2008 9:40:16 AM PDT by randog (What the...?!)
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To: SunkenCiv

WinH are archaeology majors going to be required to take...and PASS...a couple of photography classes?

I swear, next to journalists, they are the world’s worst, when they even do bother to point & click.


15 posted on 06/11/2008 2:24:56 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
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To: randog
Looks like bathroom wall graffiti, by somebody who didn't care what was above the shoulders.
16 posted on 06/11/2008 2:28:15 PM PDT by ApplegateRanch (The Great Obamanation of Desolation, attempting to sit in the Oval Office, where he ought not..)
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To: ApplegateRanch

:’D Some of them could use a little more flash in their bulb. ;’)


17 posted on 06/11/2008 10:54:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_________________________Profile updated Friday, May 30, 2008)
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To: blam

I dunno...the right hand of the guy in the picture is a little disturbing.......


18 posted on 06/11/2008 10:57:29 PM PDT by exit82 (People get the government they deserve. And they are about to get it--in spades.)
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